WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 29: Fox News host Tucker Carlson discusses 'Populism and the Right' during the National Review Institute's Ideas Summit at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel March 29, 2019 in Washington, DC. Carlson talked about a large variety of topics including dropping testosterone levels, increasing rates of suicide, unemployment, drug addiction and social hierarchy at the summit, which had the theme 'The Case for the American Experiment.' (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Racist text messages sent by former Fox News Host Tucker Carlson prompted the popular host’s April firing. Fox learned about a trove of texts from Carlson days before settling the $787.5 million lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems.
One text, sent after the January 6 Capitol insurrection, repeated violent white nationalist sentiment that Carlson frequently preached on air. The texts generated consternation in the executive suites at Fox and ultimately led to his firing.
In a text to a show’s producer, Carlson recounted a video where a group of Trump supporters violently attacked one “Antifa kid.”
“Jumping a guy like that is dishonorable obviously,” Carlson wrote in the text. “It’s not how white men fight.”
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Carlson explained how he wanted the Trump supporters to “hit him harder, kill him.” He then said he stepped back and noted, “Much as I’m sure I’d hate him personally if I knew him, I shouldn’t gloat over his suffering.”
Carlson’s rhetoric around how “white men fight” alarmed Fox News’ board of directors. In mid-April, company shareholders demanded company records about internal communications during the 2020 election.
Fox News has not commented on Carlson’s departure other than saying the two “agreed to part ways.” Carlson’s last segment ended with a claim that he would be on air the following Monday, sparking allegations that the decision was not mutual.
Carlson’s rhetoric in his text message was not new for the former host. He frequently espoused white nationalist rhetoric on his show – including saying immigrants make the country “dirtier” and declaring that white supremacy was “not a real problem” after a white supremacist perpetrated a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas.
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